Heather Dunaway
Theology of Church
Matt Schwartz
Rockford
When looking at my home parish, St. Anthony of Padua, I see the following models in our parish: Political Society, Pilgrim People, Church as a Servant, People of God and Body of Christ.
The Political Model I saw in the parish both individuals and groups. There are some individuals who do wonderful things for our parish that are needed and benefit our parish greatly; however they do it not only for the parish but for their own personal motives and it is more of a self serving motive than anything else. I would say politics get involved when you start getting into Holy Name Society, Altar and Rosary Society, Parish Council, and Finance Council. They all have voted members for their committees. These committees benefit the church greatly in various ways but still politics play a role.
With the Pilgrim People Model I see our Renew Prayer Group and Bible Study classes. These groups there is not a committee so to speak, but more of a group of people all coming together to accomplish things as a whole. These groups benefit our parish in various ways. The Renew prayer group helps the members of our parish by praying for their special intentions throughout the week. The Bible Study sessions are a group of people coming together to better understand Scripture together.
As far as the Church as a Servant I see the Helping Tree, our Outreach program and the Homebound Ministry. These people serve not only our church but the community as well. The Helping Tree is gift baskets at Thanksgiving and gifts at Christmas for needy families. The Outreach program is collecting food and household items for the Rockford Rescue Mission and St.Elizabeth Center. The Homebound Ministry is outreach for the parishioners who are unable to make it to Mass.
The People of God Model I see the whole congregation. The Baptized people of our parish putting their God given gifts and talents into action. These people are not only using actions but living a life of service by being Priest, Prophet and King in our parish and in the community around them.
The Body of Christ Model I think is that every Ministry relies on each other. To make the church run as a whole we need Priests, Ushers, Eucharistic Ministers, Cantors, Lectors, Altar Servers, Catechists, Cleaning (Holy Dusters), etc. without all of them working together something would fall apart. Every Ministry is important in its own way and it is up to us to realize just how important our part of the Body is!